She and Him
by Heaven In A Wild Flower
Summary: Because names aren't necessary. They'd influenced each other in so many ways and these are a few of the resulting changes. Written for Valenship on GW and Devilish Me.


She and Him

**A/N: The title is taken from Zooey Deschanel's band (very cute by the way) and the idea is from Devilish Me over on GW. So thanks! Especially written for Valenship and full of fluff and drabble. Kind of a stream of consciousness thing. Enjoy.**

**Disclaimer: as always, the characters are not mine, but lots of fun to play with.**

It was hard, nearly impossible, for either of them to imagine life without the other now. After two years of marriage and another eight years of service before that in which they spent almost every day together, it was understandable. The changes in their characters and personalities had been inevitable; they ranged from almost unnoticeable to blatant but one thing that remained constant and unwavering was the love she held for him and he for her.

He was calmer now. It had happened almost imperceptibly. There was no way he would have been able to manage all the endless meetings with politicians and the like if he wasn't. He'd obviously learnt patience during his time as commander of the SGC but this was different. She had taken the edge off his impatience, and through not only his relationship with her but his time spent with her as his second in command, he'd learnt to take his time and listen to those around him which had given him the skills to step up again in his career and to take it further than he had ever thought possible.

She held her head high now. Her confidence had grown within the first few months at the SGC under his command but there was something more there. By the time they had finally managed to move their relationship to where they wanted it to be, she had learnt from him what she needed to in order to take a command of her own. What she hadn't noticed in herself was what the others saw. The way she carried herself now, as if she could assert herself as a female officer: she no longer acted like she was one of the boys. That chip on her shoulder had been lost during the time she had spent in the team. They had all come to realise – far sooner than she had herself – that she could carry her femininity as well as the soldier/scientist persona she needed to get the job done in two fields dominated by men. She had ignored that part of herself and it had taken a long while for her to realise what had been developing between herself and her commanding officer. It hadn't hit her in the way that it had him. His sudden realisation when the force shield had come between them had been violent but for her it had come slowly and gradually in the years preceding that event.

But she knew that the change in her femininity was not something to be directly attributed to him. She wouldn't do him the dishonour of assuming that he was only attracted to her in a physical manner. There had of course been an amount of sexual chemistry between them, it had been unavoidable. She knew, however, that there had been a bond of strength and trust built between them that was unlike any other relationship either of them had ever had and it would eventually exclude any other romantic relationship. And from that bond (before it had gone beyond what the regulations allowed) these two people had grown, who knew each other in every possible way.

She was softer and easier to approach. The brashness of the captain he'd met all those years ago had gone and what was left was love and warmth. The soldier was still there but her command style had changed. She was still able to get the job done but his influence had allowed her to improve her manner with those around her. She listened and tried to understand their point of view but she was much less inclined to follow an order she disagreed with and he liked to think that had something to do with him.

This was mirrored in his style after the years they'd spent together. The sardonic, sarcastic man was still there but he was quicker to smile now. She had softened him and made him see that there was another way. There were definitely still times when he'd like to take a zat with him to his meetings with the Joint Chiefs but he now restricted his remarks and daydreams to his notepad. She had made him see that those remarks weren't always in everyone's best interest.

He learnt that he started to care what those around him thought of his actions. For a long time he'd shut that side of himself down; not conducive to a career doing morally questionable things. But after first learning that he had a conscious, he began to realise that she was someone that mattered in terms of what she thought of him and his decisions. At first he'd thought it was just because she was his second in command and she looked up to him, but as time and the missions went on, he came to realise that he cared what she thought because he cared about her. He wanted to be someone that would garner the respect of her and to be someone worthy of that respect. The few times he had done something morally extreme, it was her face that haunted him afterwards, not that of the person he had deceived or wronged. But this worked both ways; when he had freed or helped people, it was her face he looked to first for that brilliant smile.

Her risky plans had become more and more leveled and thought out. Her level of command meant she could no longer take the risks she used to. This was something he thought she missed but she had learnt to replace the rush she got from the skin-of-their-teeth plans with clear thinking and the rush of being in command of a large crew working well together. He had taught her to take a break, to know when she had done enough for one night. He had learnt a few tricks to make that easier but that had been after their relationship had taken a step up.

There were stupid things that had changed. She had picked up a few of his curses and he had learnt how to relax without being completely immobile. He still enjoyed the days when he got to sit and do nothing but he also enjoyed the days he spent fiddling with the engine of a car with her. Her constant movement was infectious. Not that she hadn't learnt that there was something to be said for sitting still. That lesson was one of the first in their new relationship, a short time after her father's death. She had been nervous, expecting the stillness and solitude of his cabin to give her too much time to consider what she had lost. Instead she discovered what she had gained.

He kept her in the present. He had learnt early on that it didn't pay to dwell on the past, something that she had been prone to do. They both acknowledged where they had come from and how but she knew now that there was no point regretting what had come before as it could not be changed. Now, looking forward, she could only see him and hope.

They had grown around each other, changing and molding to fit what was different and wonderful about them. What had never changed was what they had based their relationship on. The changes had come from trust. From the fact that they could communicate without uttering a word. That she knew exactly what he meant even if he didn't. Their mutual trust was a circle, an infinite round that could not be broken and within that was everything that he saw in her and she saw in him.

**Hope you enjoyed this. I had fun writing it. Happy Valenship!  
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